Object Memory Modeling Incubator Group Charter

The mission of the Object Memory Modeling Incubator
Group, part of the Incubator
Activity, is as follows: To define an object memory format, which allows for
modeling of events or other information about individual physical artifacts –
ideally over their lifetime – and which is explicitly designed to support
data storage of those logs on so-called "smart labels" attached to the physical
artifact. Such labels range from barcodes, to RFID, to sensor nodes –
miniaturized embedded systems capable of performing some processing, gathering
sensory information and communicating with other nodes. The object memory
format implemented on a "smart label" can provide an object memory, which may serve as a data
collector for real world data concerning a physical artifact. Associating
semantic definitions with the data stored using the object memory format, can
help tie together the Semantic Web with the Internet of Things.
Today, heterogeneous standards are already in use to describe a physical
artifact’s individual characteristics in different application domains. The
envisioned object memory format has to complement and embrace such standards
dedicated to the description of physical items. In order to facilitate
interoperability in scenarios comprising several application domains (e.g.,
business processes covering production and logistics) and open-loop scenarios
(e.g., production lines with highly varying process steps), the object memory
format should provide a standardized way to organize and access the selected
data independent from the application domain. Furthermore, it should function
as a technology-neutral layer for delivering content from physical artifacts to
applications in business processes ranging from product lifecycle management to
consumer support.

An object memory format will be created that addresses the organization, the
description and the transformation of object-related information. Hence, the
use of the following three components will play a prominent role:

An XML-based object memory format
should provide a flexible and extensible approach, such that any potential
owner of the object will be able to enrich the representation with
additional information in arbitrary formats. This format should explicitly
support the temporal and incremental aspects of information accumulation
along the object's lifecycle and allow for describing the state of the
object at different points in time. In addition, it should allow for
describing active components, such as sensors, employed by the object to
acquire information from its environment. Technically, the format defines
the structural characteristics of an object memory. The format should be
designed in a way which facilitates its adoption on technically limited
information storage devices such as RFID chips. Further, it should enable
an efficient information exchange between objects.

A set of keywords: These allow a
superficial characterization of a physical object without need to access
additional information sources.

A conversion format should
provide a defined but flexible way to transfer the object memory format to
a representation matching the technical constraints of various types of
labels ranging from barcodes to sensor nodes. It should allow for defining
mappings between an XML-based representation of the object memory format
and arbitrary binary formats with potentially strong technical
limitations.

The object memory format will further provide mechanisms to support: role-based
data access; interpretation of data (e.g., via references to ontologies
defining the data’s semantics); and data integrity for distributed
information linked with an object (e.g., via checksums and certificates).

A possible sequence of work is as follows:

Analysis of requirements for data storage and processing on the physical
item and externally in the environment. Notes: This includes processing object
memories on the physical item’s smart label.

Definition of a structural description for object memories, which allows
for defining content blocks and histories of events for an individual
object. Notes: There are no agreed
formal definitions for the structure of object memories at present.
Creating agreed formal definitions will be a task of the incubator group.
Furthermore, constraints imposed by physical aspects of smart label
technology should be taken into account in order to enable a transfer of
these structures from Web-based scenarios to smart labels.

Definition of structures that facilitate access to and description of
content stored in object memories, such as keywords and index structures.
Here, a particular objective is to define these structures in a way that
permits quick direct access to data even after a transfer (and potential
conversion) of such structures to arbitrary smart labels. Notes: An
important requirement is to record product decomposition in an "open
world", i.e., these structures should be ready for extensions. Notes: An important requirement is to
record product decomposition in an "open world", i.e., these structures
should be ready for extensions.

Definition of a description, which allows for the specification of
associated remote data sources such as object-related sensors - sources
which may feed the object memory with content. Notes: Following the related concept of
smart labels, a particular focus will be on the description and treatment
of information sources actually attached to the physical artifact.

Definition of structures supporting the conversion from XML-based
representations to other, more compact (e.g. binary) formats appropriate
for different kinds of smart label technology. Notes: This particular step will require
a formal description of the mapping process; the approach should be open
and thus allow content providers to define their own mapping schemes for
their respective contents.

It is not expected that the incubator group would cover any more than items
(1), (2) and (3) during its one year runtime. Regarding items (4) and (5), it
is expected that an initial recommendation created from technical experiments
can be expressed after one year.

Success Criteria

Enables the representation and organization of individual event histories
(and thus the evolution of properties of a single artifact).

Supports retrieval and access of changing owners and users along the
product lifecycle.

Is ready for translation according to (memory) constraints imposed by
smart label technology.

Out of Scope

Generic modeling constructs already defined in base
standards such as OWL1.0 and the upcoming OWL 2.0
Product classification models such as eCl@ss
Generic keyword sets not focused on the particular object memory structure such
as Dublin Core
Activities concerning the definition of identifiers for the Internet of
Things
Activities concerning the modeling and processing of complex events (CEP)
Activities concerning business process modeling (BPM)

Deliverables

Report on the actual OMM- Object Memory format defined

Dependencies and Liaisons

W3C Groups

Extensible Markup Language (XML)

XML itself is considered as candidate for
the specification of object memories. The Efficient XML Interchange (EXI)
Format suggests a way to create highly compressed binary data from XML.
The approach will be reviewed concerning its appropriateness for storing
object memories on smart labels. The Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL)
is another complementary technology, which might be of special interest
for converting XML-based information into a smart label-friendly
format.

Semantic Web Activity

RDF and OWL are considered as basis for a
semantic representation of the object memory structure.

Product Modeling XG

Results from this incubator group’s
efforts comprise a specification that allows for setting up detailed and
semantically meaningful product descriptions, which could be inserted
into the object memory structure in order to describe properties shared
by all artifacts of some kind.

External Groups

An alliance of the projects SemProM, ADiWa and Aletheia, all funded by
the German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), is researching
different aspects of structure, contents, and applications of so-called
digital product memories - a topic closely related to the more general
concept of digital object memories. On the European level, the European
project SmartProducts is researching how to use digital product memories for
a better human product interaction.

These groups will provide input to the incubator group from practical
experiments with preliminary results generated by the group. Furthermore,
they will support the group with complementary activities such as market
research concerning business models that could drive the transfer of a
potential standard into practice.

The SemProM project

The SemProM project (Semantic Product Memory, see
http://www.semprom.org/) researches how smart labels may give products a
memory and thus support intelligent applications along the product's
lifecycle. By the use of integrated sensors, relations in the production
process become transparent and supply chains as well as environmental
influences retraceable. The producer gets supported and the consumer
better informed about the product.

The ADiWa project

The ADiWa project (Alliance Digital Product Flow, see
http://www.adiwa.net/) makes the huge potential of information from the
Internet of Things accessible for business-relevant workflows that can be
strategically planned and manipulated. For the data-level connection of
objects from the real world, results from available solutions and from
the SemProM project shall be used. ADiWa focuses on business processes,
which can be controlled and manipulated based on evaluated information
from the real world.

The Aletheia project

The Aletheia project (see http://www.aletheia-projekt.de/) is a leading
innovation project, sponsored by the German Ministry of Education and
Research that aims at obtaining comprehensive access to product
information through the use of semantic technologies. The project follows
an approach which does not only consult structured data from
company-owned information sources, such as product databases, to respond
to inquiries, it also looks at unstructured data from office documents
and web 2.0 sources, such as wikis, blogs, and web forums, as well as
sensor and RFID data.

The SmartProducts project

The SmartProducts project (see http://www.smartproducts-project.eu/)
develops the scientific and technological basis for building "smart
products" with embedded proactive knowledge. Smart products help
customers, designers and workers to deal with the ever increasing
complexity and variety of modern products. Such smart products leverage
proactive knowledge to communicate and co-operate with humans, other
products and the environment. The project thereby also focuses on small
devices with limited storage capabilities and thus also requires
efficient storage mechanisms. Moreover, the project aims to apply the
results achieved by the incubator group for optimizing the data exchange
between different smart products.

Participation

Monthly telcon's and yearly face-2-face meetings frequency.

Communication

This group primarily conducts its work on the public mailing list
public-xg-omm@w3.org (archive) . The
group's Member-only list is member-xg-omm@w3.org (archive)

Decision Policy

As explained in the Process Document (section 3.3), this group will seek to make decisions when
there is consensus. When the Chair puts a question and observes dissent, after
due consideration of different opinions, the Chair should record a decision
(possibly after a formal vote) and any objections, and move on.

When deciding a substantive technical issue, the Chair may put a question
before the group. The Chair must only do so during a group meeting, and at least two-thirds of participants in
Good Standing must be in attendance. When the Chair
conducts a formal vote to reach a decision on a substantive technical
issue, eligible voters may vote on a proposal one of three ways: for a
proposal, against a proposal, or abstain. For the proposal to pass there
must be more votes for the proposal than against. In case of a tie, the
Chair will decide the outcome of the proposal.

This charter is written in accordance with Section 3.4, Votes of the W3C Process Document and
includes no voting procedures beyond what the Process Document
requires.

Patent Policy

This Incubator Group provides an opportunity to share perspectives on the
topic addressed by this charter. W3C reminds Incubator Group participants of
their obligation to comply with patent disclosure obligations as set out in Section 6 of the W3C Patent Policy. While the Incubator Group
does not produce Recommendation-track documents, when Incubator Group
participants review Recommendation-track specifications from Working Groups,
the patent disclosure obligations do apply.

Incubator Groups have as a goal to produce work that can be implemented on a
Royalty Free basis, as defined in the W3C Patent
Policy.

About this Charter

This charter for the Object Memory Modeling Incubator Group has been created
according to the Incubator Group Procedures documentation. In the event of a
conflict between this document or the provisions of any charter and the W3C
Process, the W3C Process shall take precedence.